Crime is an act that is prohibited by law and is subject to punishment. Criminal acts include such actions as murder, robbery, theft, and possession of illegal drugs. Crime is a global phenomenon and has existed for thousands of years. Crime has many different forms and types ranging from the murder of Abel by Cain (B.C.) to the current crimes of bank robbery, car theft, and prostitution.
The definition of a crime differs from place to place, with the majority of criminal laws being based on English common law and other sources. Most legal systems define a crime by requiring certain elements to be present in order for an individual to be guilty of a specific offense. These elements include the criminal act itself, known as actus reus, and the mental state of the perpetrator at the time of the alleged crime, known as mens rea. A criminal prosecution requires the government to prove each element beyond a reasonable doubt in order to secure a conviction.
Each jurisdiction decides what kind of conduct to prohibit through a criminal code, with each criminal code having a number of different categories of felonies and misdemeanors. For example, the New York Penal Law defines nine major felonies, ranging from residential mortgage fraud in the fourth degree to terrorism.
While some behaviors are considered harmful to society and therefore banned by criminal law, other behavior may not be criminalized even though it is damaging to the individuals involved. For example, the Honor cultures of immigrants from Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries believe that private family vengeance should be taken on those who dishonor their families. This practice, however, is against American criminal law. Criminologists have debated the question of whether certain social values are too fundamental to be bound by laws, with anarchist criminologists, such as Dennis Sullivan and Larry Tifft, arguing that power structures in societies produce harm that evades legal definition.